Newsletter
BEML has signed a tripartite MoU with Bharat Forge and Data Patterns to back India’s ambitious Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.
Context: the AMCA is India’s homegrown fifth-generation stealth fighter jet. The IAF plans to induct around 120 jets in phases, starting with Mark-1 powered by GE engines, and later a Mark-2 with indigenous engines.
While HAL and ADA lead design and production, companies like BEL and L&T are pitching in with radars and avionics, and BEML, Bharat Forge, and Data Patterns are bringing heavy engineering and electronics. it’s a consortium approach where each player contributes its expertise to make India’s most advanced fighter a reality.
The deets: the trio will jointly respond to the Aeronautical Development Agency’s (ADA) Expression of Interest for prototype development and production.
The new jet will be designed to fly faster without needing extra fuel, hide from enemy radar, carry weapons inside its body, and use high-tech systems to jam enemy signals.
Big theme: after Operation Sindoor, India has been on a mission to rapidly upgrade its defence systems. The government has cleared emergency procurements worth tens of thousands of crores.
The army recently floated a ₹30,000 crore tender for mobile air-defence systems to plug gaps along the China/Pakistan border. India is also rolling out Akashteer, a new AI-enabled air defence network by BEL/DRDO, integrated with radar, sensors and missile units.
